PACBI salutes over 200 Brazilian Intellectuals for Joining the Academic Boycott of Israel

January 20, 2016

PACBI salutes over 200 Brazilian Intellectuals for Joining the Academic Boycott of Israel

The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) salutes Brazilian professors and researchers for their principled solidarity with our struggle for freedom and justice. In just three days, an online letter endorsing the academic boycott of Israeli institutions, circulated by Brazilian intellectuals, received as much as 200 signatories from faculty across Brazilian universities. We are inspired by this public outpouring of support.

The letter was signed by well-known academics, including Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, professor and former UN rapporteur as well as B. Boris Vargaftig, physician and pharmacologist, and one of the most internationally quoted Brazilian academics. In the letter, signatories reaffirmed their “commitment to social justice and against all forms of racism” and pledged to “support the campaign for academic boycott of Israel in the terms proposed by the BDS movement.” [1]

By publically committing to isolate Israeli academic institutions these academics deepen the long-standing support that Brazilian individuals, movements and unions continue to provide for our struggle against the Israeli settler colonial and apartheid regime. Brazilian allies have long been at the forefront of campaigns to boycott Israeli military companies.

Through these campaigns, Brazilian comrades continue to demonstrate that solidarity with the oppressed is the most politically and morally sound contribution to the struggle to end oppression. And this solidarity begins with ending support for the Israeli settler colonial and apartheid system. We salute all the individuals and organizations that worked tirelessly to achieve this latest victory. Outstanding displays of international solidarity such as this, which make that clear there will be no business as usual with organizations that are complicit Israel’s racist policies and systematic violation of Palestinians’ basic human rights, are the most effective way to contribute to ending Israel’s multi-tiered oppression of the Palestinian people.

PACBI

[1] Full letter & list of signatories:

Letter of Support for the Academic Boycott of Israel

Launched in 2005, the objective of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement (BDS) is to pressure Israel to honor International Law and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The campaign demands the end of the occupation and colonization of all Arab territories and the dismantling of the Wall; the recognition of the fundamental rights of Arab Palestinian citizens of Israel to full equality; and the respect, protection and promotion of the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties as stipulated in Resolution 194 of the United Nations.

Among the activities organized by BDS are the academic and cultural boycotts. According to their organizers, “artists and cultural institutions from around the world can send a clear message to Israel that its occupation and discrimination against Palestinians is unacceptable. In particular, the academic boycott could have a significant impact on the institutions responsible for promoting the theories and knowledge necessary for the continuation of Israel’s politics of occupation and discrimination”.

Important academic organizations around the world have adhered to the boycott campaign such as the American Anthropological Association (AAA), the Association for Asian American Studies (AAAS) and the American Studies Association. Professors and researchers from various countries have supported BDS such as the more than 500 British academics who signed a manifesto of support with respect to the campaign. Student associations and teachers’ unions have approved resolutions supporting the campaign.

The professors and researchers who sign below, reaffirming their commitment to social justice and against all forms of racism, including antisemitism, declare their support for the campaign for academic boycott of Israel in the terms proposed by the BDS movement.

New Brazilian supporters should send an email to boicoteacdemico@gmail.com